Remiss Missive

A good Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) to you all. And in that vein - Mea Maxima Culpa! Please forgive. I just realized that I'm running over a week behind. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. What good is a 60-mile walk if I don't follow up with friends and family (and readership) by reminding all of the females out there to check yourselves, get your mammograms. I know it's uncomfortable - cowgirl up and just do it. Ten minutes of discomfort beats the hell out of a lost lifetime. Please take good care of yourselves. There is a wealth of information about breast cancer on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website. And, hey, don't wait until my next big hike to donate to this great cause. It's one of the best ones out there. Even if you don't care to donate directly, find out which businesses in your area will donate a portion of proceeds to SGK and support them. Thank you.

It was pointed out to me that I haven't posted any new artwork in "eons." There are reasons for that. No, my muse has not gone awol - far from it. It's just that between packing things up, moving, unpacking and my current lack of internet at home, I just haven't had the opportunity to fly my new creations here. But, create I have (I love my new studio!), and I'll start posting my artwork again soon. In the meantime, I've added a nifty new widget on the sidebar (thanks blogspot!) that shows a teeny slide show of my artwork, plus acts as a direct link to the Picassa album of all that artwork (so you can ditch the microscope and see it biggie-sized).

Rest assured that I'm still creatively stoked and blazin'. I got home last night, sat down at the piano to plunk around a bit, and ended up writing You Said, I Say. Kind of a nifty little bluesy sounding departure from my usual stuff -none of which I've yet to fit into any particular genre box, although some of it sounds like it should be playable on the airwaves. (Yowch, I just heard someone scream, "And just why isn't is being played on the airwaves?!") I've never submitted any of it anywhere. I know I should just to see what becomes of it, and it's certainly not fear (anymore) that keeps me from it. I just don't know who or where or how.

Also (at long last) I've been working on the outline for my book. Yes. I've taken the step out of the safety of the plane, and so far the 'chute is holding. It seems like forever that I've had the idea for this story in me, I just was never sure quite how to formulate it. But, the other night I was wide awake at 2:30 a.m. and it all suddenly flowed together and became clear. It was as if someone took the jumbled Rubik's Cube out of my hand and with a few deft twists said, "Here's how you do it," and handed it back to me with all the colors just ever so. I may sound glib about it, but this is really quite monumental to me. This is where I allow the inmate to run the asylum. I'm not without trepidation - it's scary, but good scary. However, someone once told me that sometimes the safest place to be is out on a limb.

So, that's what I've been up to when not unpacking, babbling about prime numbers and ignorance, working, laughing, eating, living, talking, loving...

"If it wasn't this, it'd be something else."
~Elizabethtown